TRACY - A SWAT vehicle rolled slowly through a parking lot Friday evening searching for a gunman who fired multiple shots through the main entrance of the busy West Valley Mall in Tracy.

Gunfire erupted outside the mall about 4:45 p.m. on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, said Sgt. Tony Sheneman of the Tracy Police Department. Bullets struck an automatic sliding glass door and a window at the mall's main entrance, but no one was believed to be injured, he said.

"It was crazy," said Cecilia Ponce, a 16-year-old Manteca resident who was inside the mall when the shooting occurred. "I was like, 'What happened?' And they said, 'The mall just got shot up.' I didn't think something like this could happen."

Mall security apparently chased the shooter into the parking lot, but the gunman got away, possibly fleeing in a white Toyota Camry, Sheneman said. Police arrived three minutes after the shooting was reported, immediately shut down roads and parking lots on the east side of the mall and started searching for the shooter, Sheneman said.

Officers searched hundreds of cars with special attention given to several white Camrys, but they did not locate the gunman, Sheneman said. Investigators were trying to determine who the target was and whether the mall's video surveillance system captured the shooter on video, he said.

"In my opinion, when they find them, they should throw away the key," said Mike White, 46, a Tracy resident who rushed to the scene to check on his children, who were watching a movie at the mall.

White was accompanied by Ron Moppin, 53, of Tracy, whose children were also at the movie theater.

"It's just not safe to go anywhere," he said. "Not these days."

Most shoppers and store employees remained calm after the shooting occurred, Sheneman said. Some said they were unaware of the shooting until supervisors told them they had to remain inside stores while police searched the premises.

Sheneman said it was believed to be the first shooting at the mall since it opened in 1995.

"I don't ever remember having a shooting here," Sheneman said. "In the 15 years I have worked here, we have not had an incident like this at the mall."

Contact reporter Jason Anderson at (209) 546-8279 or janderson@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/crimeblog and on Twitter @Stockton911.